Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

Author Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin: born August 1797 in London, England. Father: William Godwin, famous political philosopher; work attacked political institutions and aristocratic privilege.

Author (cont.) Mother: Mary Wollstonecraft, famous philosopher and feminist; work promoted education for women. Husband: Percy Bysshe Shelley, famous Romantic poet. Wrote Frankenstein at age 19; first published in 1818. Mary Shelley died in 1851 (age 53) in England.

Romanticism Romanticism: European intellectual, artistic, literary, and philosophical movement of the late-18th to mid-19th centuries (1800-1850). Emphasized emotion and individualism; glorified nature and the past (Medieval rather than Classical); embraced imagination, the exotic, unfamiliar, and distant. Reaction against the Industrial Revolution (mass production), the political and social norms of the of Age the Enlightenment (rationalism). Associated with liberalism and radicalism.

Gothic Fiction Gothic Fiction: type of Romanticism; includes horror. Other famous gothic tales of time period: The Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole The Monk, Matthew Gregory Lewis Dracula, Bram Stoker Zastrozzi, Percy Bysshe Shelley Stories of Edgar Allan Poe

Graphic Novel Tells story through text and images. If graphic version of an original text, often abridged (shortened). Decisions graphic novelist must make: What plot points to include. What plot points to emphasize. What text passages to include and omit. How to distinguish narration, dialogue, and internal monologue. What images to include. How many images to include. Layout and size of images (two-page, full-page, half-page, quarter-page, etc.)

Graphic Novel If we were making Julius Caesar into a graphic novel, which scenes would you include? List top five. What images would you include with the scene? Rank your scenes in order of importance. How might you convey to your audience that one scene is more important than another in a graphic novel?

Structure Frame Tale: story within a story; main narrative introduces a more emphasized narrative. Introductory Frame Story: Robert Walton’s story: Arctic explorer who rescues Victor Frankenstein; writes letters to sister, Margaret. Story within: Victor’s story and Creature’s story. Concluding Frame Story: back to Robert Walton; resolution of his and Victor’s stories.

Do Now: What image comes to mind when you hear the name Frankenstein? Describe or draw it in your notebook.

Images of Frankenstein’s Creature

Mary Shelley’s text: “… when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs… His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost the same color as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight back lips.”

Questions: What scientific advancement recently occurred in the UK? According to Article #1, what are people’s concerns about these recent scientific advancements? According to Article #2, what is the goal of synthetic biology? Is the writer of Article #2, for or against creating artificial life? What conditions do the coalition against biotechnology advances wish to place on research? What does Brent Ericksen believe drives people’s fear of biotechnology? On what side of the debate do you stand? Do you think scientists should be able to create new life forms? Why or why not?

Allusions Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus Greek Mythology: Prometheus is a Titan who created mankind at Zeus’s request; teaches man to outsmart Zeus; Zeus takes away fire, but Prometheus steals it back; he is punished by Zeus. Latin Mythology: Prometheus molds man out of clay and water; steals fire from the gods to give to man and is punished.

Allusions (cont.) Allusion: reference in a literary work to another literary work or a person, place, thing or idea of historical, political or cultural significance. Bible Paradise Lost: John Milton’s epic poem about the fall of man. Rime of the Ancient Mariner: Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem about a man lost at sea. Tintern Abbey: William Wordsworth’s poem about nature and memory.

Characters Which characters are members of Victor Frankenstein’s family? Which other characters are related to each other? Which characters work in the following fields: Law? Education? Sea exploration? What are the names of the characters you have not yet listed?